


May the Odds Ever Be in Your Favor!

by BatchSan



Category: Hunger Games Series - All Media Types, Pocket Monsters | Pokemon (Main Video Game Series), The Cabin in the Woods (2011)
Genre: Action, Alternate Universe - Fusion, Alternate Universe - Horror, Angst, Character Death, Crossover, Drama, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Mild Humor, Mystery, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Slow Burn Ethan/Silver, Survival, Vampires, Violence, Werewolves, both major and minor
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-12-26
Updated: 2018-12-03
Packaged: 2019-02-22 05:18:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,972
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13160070
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BatchSan/pseuds/BatchSan
Summary: For the 40th Hunger Games, to celebrate, well known Pokemon Champions are forced to fight themselves, and monsters, for the viewing entertainment of the world.Ethan's world is about to change drastically.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I started this for some kind of exchange/fest back 2015 but I petered out and depression hit and yeah, it just didn't get finished. Still incomplete, but I feel confident in getting this done, FINALLY. Will update here and there. (I have a few chapter done but am still working on it.)

The fax machine whirred to life, a single sheet of paper printing itself out onto the awaiting tray. Looking up from a magazine, Gary Sitterson sighed and took the fax. Reading it over, he stood quickly, letting the magazine tumble to the floor. He found Steve Hadley in the cafeteria in the middle of a tuna melt sandwich.

"Snow has ordered a round of Hunger Games," he said before the other man could get a word of greeting out.

"The Director okayed it?" Steve asked, taking the fax from Gary. Reading it over, his eyes widen. "What the fuck?"

Gary shook his head. "I don't know but we better get the game started pronto before they both go apeshit on us."

"Yeah, but why the Champions?"

The older man shrugged. "It's not our place to know. Just get it set up."

*

 _"Welcome all to the 40th Hunger Games!"_ A voice announced over the television screen set up in Goldenrod City. _"It's always a momentous and special occasion when the biannual Hunger Games is announced, is it not? This year we're doing things a little differently. If the numbers that appear on the screen in a moment match the ID number on your Trainer card, then you get to participate in the 40th Hunger Games spectacular!"_

Ethan looked up from his bike as ID numbers started to flash on the screen. None looked familiar until...

"Oh shit," he cursed, digging his card out from his back pocket. The IDs were still being flashed on the screen as he checked his number and looked back up at the screen. Cursing again, he felt a wave of sickness roll over him.

*

All the selected were gathered up quickly, despite some not even being in the region of their birthplace. They sat quietly on a boat that had sailed off from Olivine City to parts unknown. Guards were gathered at every door and window, cramping the chosen players into a space no more than fifteen by twenty feet.

Ethan looked up, met eyes with Silver, and smiled slightly. The gesture felt nervous and strained but he hoped the redhead got that it was supposed to be reassuring.

Silver looked away from him with his usual air of annoyance. Strangely, it made Ethan feel better.

To his left, Blue Oak stood with his arms folded over his chest, staring hard at one of the guards. The guard stared back but it was clear he wanted to bash Blue in the face with the butt of his rifle. Ethan silently applauded the effort of proving they couldn't be so easily intimidated but he wished they could do more. Anything other than sit around and wait around to die on tv would be a step in the right direction.

To Ethan's right, a boy around his age sat, looking uncomfortable. He was certain he had heard the name Brendan directed at him. Brendan's head was tilted toward the center of the room but his eyes were jumping around from guard to guard, gun to gun. At one point he lifted his head to look at a girl seated across from him, sweat rolling down his brow as he licked his lips. He was going to make a move, Ethan could sense it, but it was so clearly dumb that he didn't even bother to try and talk him out of it.

It was the hand clamp on Brendan's shoulder that snapped him out of whatever bravado he had been building up for himself. It was Red, the Champion of the Kanto region. Ethan battled him once, months ago, and it had been a brutal match. They ended up agreeing on a draw, Ethan promising to be back soon - Red smirked encouragingly.

Now though, there was no smirk. Only a tight line where his mouth was and a steely look in his eyes that screamed 'Don't fuck with me'. It made Ethan feel uneasy all over again, but it was enough to snap Brendan out of his irrational thinking. The boy slumped into himself as Red withdrew his hand.

The rest of the boat ride was even more silent than before.

*

They disembarked on a sandy beach, trees immediately before them. It didn't seem like a place that had been inhabited by people, nor pokemon for that matter. The place was too quiet actually.

They were ordered to march single file straight ahead. Past the first trees, they passed through into an enclosed area of what seemed like a heavy plastic material. A dome that went up high overhead and disappeared far off into the trees. There were no guards in here and it was somehow even quieter here than on the beach.

"Welcome contestants! You should all be well versed in the rules by now but just in case anyone's forgotten, here we go: Rule one, one pokemon per contestant. We wouldn't want anyone with an unfair advantage, would we? Rule two, You have seventy-two hours to survive. Tied contestants at the end will draw straws to decide on a winner. The losers are shot where they stand. And rule three, smile for the cameras! Your loved ones want to remember you with a big smile on your face! Oh, and if you try to escape from the dome, the pretty collars around your throats will trigger and blow your head off your shoulders. Good luck everyone!"

"Sick fucks," Blue grumbled.

The entrance was closed and locked, guards staring them down from the other side of the dome. Ethan flipped them off before looking around. He'd never really bothered watching the Games before. Of course there were fanatics that tuned in religiously, fighting over their favorites to win in restaurants and on the road, but Ethan had mostly ignored them. Now he wished he had spent a little time trying to learn how this game worked.

"Don't touch anything," Silver said, coming up beside him. "Don't go tripping on rocks or pissing on trees. You'll activate something and then we're all fucked."

"Activate something like what?" Ethan asked.

"Are you really that empty-headed? Have you never watched a Hunger Game?"

Embarrassed, Ethan scratched the back of his head. "No, not really," he admitted.

"Arceus save us all," Silver growled. "Just don't touch anything but your pokeball, and don't even do that unless you absolutely have to. Don't even eat anything!"

Ethan's stomach chose then to growl. The redheaded boy glared icily at him. "Don't. Eat. Anything."

Pouting, Ethan decided that if he couldn't eat, he would need to distract himself with something. He spied Brendan and the girl he seemed to be friends with nearby. Swearing to Silver he wouldn't touch anything, Ethan went over to the two.

"Hey," Ethan greeted, holding up a hand. "I'm Ethan."

"Brendan," the boy said.

"I'm May. Hi," greeted the girl.

She had a nice smile Ethan decided - it made him think of his best friend Lyra back home. She couldn't stop crying when she learned about him getting chosen. He didn't want to think of her as a sobbing mess, instead preferring the memories of her laughing and tending to her Marill like a mother would to a baby.

"My buddy told me not to touch anything. Not even to eat! Can you believe it? This sucks so badly," Ethan said.

"Yeah, I was told something like that before Snow's guards escorted us onto the boat," May said.

"Even so," Brendan said, "how are we supposed to get out of this? Isn't there usually only one victor?"

Ethan made a face at this, only now realizing that was a thing that had to happen at some point. It seemed ridiculous though. As far as he could tell, none of them were hostile toward each other. There was no reason to start fighting each other now.

And then Ethan heard the whispers.

They were faint at first and he thought maybe he was just hearing some of the other contestants whispering to each other. But then one by one, the contestants, whom had stuck to a single area, began drifting off past the trees and into the tall grass.

Soon there was only five of them left - Ethan, Silver, Red, Blue, and a tall girl with a ballcap and long brown hair. She was looking off into the trees where a boy who might've been her twin had disappeared into a few moments before. Her shoulders were tense as she waited to see if the boy would appear again.

She shot a glance at the others, silent, and ran ahead, disappearing from sight in seconds.

Ethan swallowed thickly, feeling sick as the whispers became an insistent call. He could feel Silver's eyes on him and he managed to muster a smile to show he was all right. Totally all right.

"Idiot!"

"Ow!"

Blinking, Ethan rubbed his arm where Silver had pinched him. He turned to ask him what his problem was when he realized he was standing just at the edge of the tall grass. Fear struck him immediately. He'd been nowhere the tall grass just a second ago. Was it just a second ago? He wasn't sure and that scared him.

Actually, he noticed Red and Blue had also vanished.

"What's going on?" Ethan asked.

Silver looked anxious but he was scowling as he always did at the brown-haired boy. Ethan almost wanted to give him a hug but suspected it would end with him getting punched in the head.

"This stupid game is going to kill us all. I know how they're doing it but I need to fin--" Silver trailed off, his eyes glazing over.

A chill ran down Ethan's spine as Silver pushed past him and began wading through the tall grass. He was like a zombie, Ethan thought. Feeling uneasy about being alone, he set out after the redhead, taking care to follow a few steps behind him.

They walked for some time, the snap of twigs beneath their feet the only sound that followed them. Once, Ethan thought he heard someone run through a thicket some yards away from them but the sound vanished just as soon as he heard it. He was beginning to think he couldn't trust his senses much anymore; his hand lingered at his waist, nervously toying with his sole pokeball. He wasn't completely sure which of his pokemon lied within because the guards had taken all six from him and handed him one back at random. There was a one in six chance it was Quilava, and one in six chances it was that Wooper that refused to stop bugging him throughout Route 32.

Ethan sincerely hoped it was Quilava, but didn't stop to check, remembering Silver's words earlier.

They finally came to an old shed, tucked away behind an ancient-looking oak tree. Its sides were made of a thin sheet of metal painted red, now more rust colored than the vibrant red it likely had once been. The roof was pointed and made of tin, dented heavily by years of falling branches and other such things. The single door sat ajar and creaked tiredly when Silver pulled it open. Ethan tensed, expecting a wild pokemon to attack them. Thankfully, nothing but a spiral of dust greeted them.

Inside there were only nine milk crates stacked up in three neat stacks. There was no light in the shed, making it difficult to decipher what was in the crates without getting close to them. Ethan felt strangely drawn to them but resisted reaching out, again remembering Silver's advice. Silver, on the other hand, stepped forward and reached for the first crate in the left hand stack. Grabbing his arm, Ethan literally dragged the redhead backward away from it. This caused the crate to tip over, dragging the one beneath with it as they tumbled to the ground. An old journal fell out of one crate, a strange sphere object fell from the other, rolling to their feet. Ethan jerked back away from it, accidentally forcing Silver to hit his cheek on the shed door.

"Hey!" He growled, rubbing his cheek. His eyes widen instantly and he took a step back, stumbling into Ethan.

"Are you okay?" Ethan asked when he had helped the redhead upright.

"Shit, I succumbed to those annoying whispers," Silver said, ignoring the other boy's question.

"I made sure you didn't touch anything," Ethan offered, hoping to ease his friend's mind.

"It would have been better if you hadn't let me space out in the first place," Silver snapped at him.

"But look, we found out where the whispers were trying to lead us to!"

The redhead paused, looking back into the shed at the crates. "Fine, that was a somewhat good idea. But these things aren't important, especially not if we want to survive."

Seeing confusion blossom across Ethan's face, Silver sighed.

"We need to find a way out. I think I know of one but we have to find it," he explained. "I can't tell you exactly what it is because I'm not sure of it myself but I have a strong inkling about it."

"Um, so you want to just stumble around this place looking for something you're not sure even exists, or even its location?" Ethan asked. "I'm willing to help but you're going to have to narrow things down a bit more for me."

"I can't, idiot." Silver paused, looking over the shed they had moved away from. "We should get rid of this thing first, or at least the objects inside. I doubt it's the only cache of artifacts but it's at least one less."

Going for his pokeball, he pressed the button on the side and threw it to the ground. From within emerged a Crobat, making him curse loudly. Glaring at Ethan, he pointed his finger at him.

"You, summon your pokemon."

Shrugging, Ethan released the pokeball from his pants and repeated Silver's actions. Only, to his surprise and relief, Quilava appeared before them. Ethan knelt down immediately to hug his beloved companion as the redhead cursed again.

"You should have a Typhlosion by now, but no matter, he'll have to do," Silver said. "Burn those artifacts."

"Are you sure?" Ethan asked, feeling uneasy by the idea. The whispering, which had been with him the whole time still, was now a chatter of voices he couldn't identify, calling out to him. A part of him wanted to run back into the shed and rummage through the bottom crate in the middle stack. He thought he had seen some kind of seashell within but wasn't positive.

Silver grasped the front of his jacket, pulling him so the tips of their noses were touching. "Yes, I am positive that I want you to burn those artifacts. If you don't, one or both us will succumb to the voices and touch one of those death traps and then we will all die. So, again, yes, I want you to help keep us alive by burning one of the sources of our temptation!"

Silver was breathing heavily, his eyes full of rage and annoyance. Ethan felt a jolt in his chest at their proximity that he swallowed down. This probably wasn't the most appropriate of times to realize how wonderfully blue his friend/rival's eyes were up close. Instead, he held up his hands and said, "Okay, I got it."

Silver shoved him away and recalled his Crobat before crossing his arms to stare at the other boy. Not wanting to upset him any more than he already was, Ethan looked down at his pokemon.

"Quilava, burn everything inside of the shed with Flamethrower!" He said in his most serious voice.

The pokemon nodded in understanding and quickly did as he was told, setting blaze to the crates and artifacts within. It wasn't an instantaneous effect but after a few moments the objects within began to melt and explode from the intensity of the fire. It took Quilava another two blasts of Flamethrower to burn everything down into an unrecognizable lumpy puddle. The smell of burnt plastic and something incredibly foul lingered in the air even after the boys had moved on.

*

"Shit! Those little bastards destroyed nine of our artifacts!" Gary cursed, hitting the console as he looked away from the monitor.

"What does that mean?" The security personnel, Daniel, asked looking up from the monitor as well.

"What does that mean?" Steve chimed in. "It means there won't be a merman in this year's game!"

"There hasn't been a merman in any of these games yet," Gary said, scowling still.

Steve sighed. "Yeah, I know. I just want to see them so bad, you know?"

"So," Daniel tried again, "that's all? Just nine monsters off the betting pool?"

"That, and the Director is going to chew our asses off about not having a sprinkler system set up within the shed or something," Gary answered, sighing at the thought of all the paperwork he was going to have to fill out later.

"I, see..."

Tapping a different monitor, Gary smiled. "Oh, but look, it seems we're about to get our first game monster after all."

They watched one of the older teens, a boy with a red brimmed ballcap, enter a small cave to the west of the island. In a hole near the entrance, were three artifacts - a music box, a wooden stake, and a jar filled with a strange pinkish jelly. Dropping to his knees at the edge of the hole, he looked down, his hand disappearing into the dark hole. When it emerged, the wooden stake was clasped in his hand. 

As expected by the technicians, he jerked his thumb away from it, blood blooming from a small cut on the pad. Ignoring it, the teen replaced his thumb on the stake, unknowingly activating the first monster.

"Gail and rest of them on the cafeteria staff are probably cooking up a storm after winning the first pool. Christ," Gary said. "The fucking odds were one to basically none on classic vampires."

"You think President Snow has a betting pool on the Hunger Games?" Steve asked.

"Considering she ordered this, I wouldn't be surprised in the least," the older man replied, stretching his back.

"Why would Snow order this?" Daniel asked. "Doesn't she know a lot of these kids are well known Champions?"

"That's precisely why she probably did it," Gary said. "What would make more people tune in than seeing their idols slaughtered onscreen? Bitch is a genius in instilling fear. Teach the masses that no one, idol or not, is exempt from the HG, and you'll keep every kid from Kalos to Johto pissing in their pants."

Daniel looked uneasy with this revelation but said nothing.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The first monster has been summoned, but what could it be? 
> 
> Everything officially changes for Ethan now.

"Wait," Silver said, stilling. "It stopped."

Ethan looked around in confusion. "What did?"

"The whispers." The redhead paled slightly. "The first monster must have been summoned."

"Whoa. Monster?" Ethan was wide-eyed. "Like a really powerful pokemon or...?"

Something dark swooped by overhead, just above the treetops. Silver yanked the other boy into the shadow of a tree and clamped a hand over Ethan's mouth until he was certain they were alone.

"Like the kind that you only see in films and read about in books, but these are real somehow," Silver whispered. "Now the game truly begins so keep your voice down and don't forget that I won't hesitate to leave you behind in a dire situation."

Ethan nodded in understanding. He didn't think the other boy meant that last bit but he didn't want to find out, not after seeing how upset he'd gotten earlier.

They continued their search as silently as they could, keeping an extra eye out for trouble. This, unsurprisingly, made their search more difficult. Soon they were sitting out of sight beneath a large bush, taking a break. Using a hiding spot for rest had been Silver's suggestion, and then command. Closing his eyes, Ethan felt himself begin to drift off when Silver's hand clamped around his mouth again, startling him fully awake.

Looking for an answer behind his actions, Ethan only found Silver with his finger pressed against his lips. He then nodded at a small opening in the leaves he had created for spying through. Ethan saw the girl first - thin with long brown hair beneath a white safari-like hat. She looked like the silent type, even now as she ran quickly through a field. Looking over her shoulder, she grimaced and quicken her pace. That's when Ethan first saw a man with an out-of-date suit and a large cape billowing out behind him as he ran, no, glided across the grass after her. He looked like a character out of an old black-and-white film.

"Hey! Leave her alone!"

The man's attention was drawn toward a boy at the edge of the clearing behind his position. His gray hair was tucked beneath a red beret and his blue and black jacket was scuffed up from running through the woods. The running girl used the opportunity to make her getaway, disappearing into the trees. 

Ethan jumped when the man let out an inhuman hiss at the newcomer and charged toward him. Only, as he charged, he changed shape.

His body shrunk down into a small, furry creature that screeched into the early evening air. The boy whirled around and disappeared from sight into the underbrush, the strangely gray Zubat behind him. Listening for anyone else in the area, a scream rang out from somewhere far off but all was silent otherwise.

"Is this game even real?" Ethan wondered out loud, his voice carefully low.

"I see you're finally joining the party," Silver said, sarcastically.

Shadows were creeping over everything as the sky grew darker overhead. Still, when Ethan turned to the redhead, he could see the glimmer of fear in Silver's eyes. Slowly taking his hand, Ethan smiled.

"We're going to get out of this, together," he said.

Silver looked away, scoffing lightly. 

"You're an idiot." Despite the insult, Ethan could see a very small smile flash across the other boy's lips.

*

The night passed torturously slow as the pair of boys took turns napping, moving hiding spots, and keeping a lookout for the mystery thing Silver had claimed to know about. 

They found no mystery thing, or things, but they did come across the body of a boy with blond hair. His skin was ashen and his throat bore two tiny holes with no blood around them. His eyes had been wide open in death. Silver was the one to close his eyelids and then hung his head in a silent prayer. Ethan followed suit in offering the dead boy a prayer. When he opened his eyes, he caught the redhead removing the boy's pokeball.

"You can't do that!"

Rolling his eyes, Silver held up the ball. "He can't use it anymore and the pokemon inside will die if no one ever lets it out. Don't get too sentimental over these kinds of things now or you'll never make it out of here alive."

Tears welled up in Ethan's eyes as Silver's words struck a nerve somewhere deep inside of him. They could actually die, just like this boy had, if they weren't careful. And almost as bad, their pokemon could die without them.

Silver hesitated before awkwardly touching his shoulder in an attempt at a comforting gesture. He then stood and pinned the acquired pokeball to his belt.

"We need to keep moving in case whatever did this comes back," he said, quietly.

Nodding, Ethan got to his feet and followed the other boy into the night, glancing back one final time at the dead boy. The boy, however, was gone.

"Silver?"

Dark eyes glared at him from over the other boy's shoulder. Pointing over his own shoulder, Ethan said, "He, uh, disappeared."

Stopping abruptly, the redhead turned and looked back at where the boy had been laying, eyes widening again as his head whipped around.

"Run," he whispered.

"Huh?"

The boy appeared a few feet from them, white as a ghost and baring his teeth as though he were an animal. His two front teeth were needle-like and he hissed inhumanly at them.

"Run, idiot!" Silver shouted as he took off.

Ethan was right on his heels, crashing through the woods with far too much noise, or so it seemed. They had spent so much time sneaking about that every loud sound they now made sounded loud enough to attract every monster, contestant, and pokemon for miles. Maybe, Ethan tried to reason, that was just the sound of his blood drumming away in his ears.

They ran for as long as they could before stopping for a break. Neither felt safe yet nor did they think they might have lost the formerly dead boy. Unfortunately, their legs and chests were burning from exertion. By now they were in an unfamiliar area with a river to their left and a cave to their right. The gurgle of the river water spiked Ethan's long forgotten thirst, but it also made it harder to hear approaching footsteps putting him on edge.

Looking for shelter, they quickly decided the cave was not a viable option because of all the unseen dangers lurking within. It wasn't like they had light or were willing to risk building a fire, for obvious reasons.

Ethan's brain was on overdrive now that he had a bit of time to process things.

It was clear to him they were dealing with a vampire but since staking them to death wasn't an option that would be safe, he tried to think of something else equally effective. He licked his lips as an idea came to him, but it relied heavily on what pokemon they had gotten from the formerly dead boy. With their luck, it probably wasn't the right type they needed but it didn't hurt to find out.

"Summon the pokemon from the ball we just got," Ethan told Silver.

Giving him a dark look, Silver decided now wasn't the best time for arguing. Doing as he was told, a thing he wasn't overly fond of, Silver summoned the pokemon. From within emerged a Sunflora that gave them a confused look, jumping when Ethan whooped happily.

"Awesome!"

"I doubt I'd ever use that word to describe a run of the mill Sunflora."

Ethan laughed. "No, dude. I have this idea but we needed a grass type for it."

"Right," Silver said, "so what is this genius plan of yours?"

Stooping down to the Sunflora, Ethan schooled his face to a more serious look. "Hey there. I know you have a Trainer but something bad happened to him. He, well, I won't lie. He died. Some monster killed him and now we really need your help to fight the monster. Do you think you could help us?"

The Sunflora wilted a little at the news of its Trainer's death but nodded at Ethan's question. The boy smiled and patted the pokemon's head.

"Thank you. Now, one more question: Can you use Solar Flare?"

The pokemon smiled and nodded again. Ethan stood and summoned his Quilava, letting the pokemon greet each other while he turned his attention back to the redhead who was looking at him curiously.

"What are you planning exactly?" He asked.

"Just follow my lead and you'll see. Summon your Crobat, we need him to lure the vampires into the cave."

"That sounds vaguely like you're trying to kill my pokemon," Silver said with a glare.

Something was crashing through the trees, fast, making them both nervous. Ethan signaled the two pokemon to hide, tugging Silver behind a tree with him. "Your Crobat will be fine - it can see in the dark, remember?"

Frowning, Silver released his pokemon as the noise got closer - it was clear there was more than one person headed in their direction. Ethan quickly explained to the Crobat what to do and fell silent as three figures entered the area. One was the dead boy and the other two were men in old-fashioned suits and capes. They all hissed as they examined the area, one of the men looking right where the boys were hiding. Ethan held his breath as he began to inch toward them. He could see blood around the man's mouth and hoped it was just from the one boy.

Crobat swooped down from the trees, right across the man's face, screeching. This caught the attention of the three vampires who let out more hisses and snatched at the air to try and grab the pokemon. It dodged their hands, though Ethan saw more than a few close calls before the Crobat flew into the cave. The vampires followed and once they were all inside, Ethan emerged, signalling to the two hiding pokemon. At the mouth of the cave, Ethan began shouting.

"Crobat, close your eyes! Sunflora, use Solar Flare!"

The hisses from within were deafening in the echoing cavern but the screams were even worse as the Sunflora's attack lit up the interior. Ethan squinted through the bright light to see the vampires only a few feet away from where he was standing; too close for comfort.

"Quilava, use Flamethrower on those monsters, then Eruption!"

The fire pokemon immediately followed his Trainer's commands, burning the vampires with a well placed blast of the same incinerating heat he used earlier in the day, then hitting them with fiery rocks that finished destroying them. Crobat used the opportunity to fly out, coming to a well deserved rest on his Trainer's shoulder.

Silver didn't acknowledge the safe return of his pokemon, opting instead to stare at Ethan. It wasn't until he had thanked the pokemon for their good teamwork that he noticed Silver's stare.

"What?"

The redhead turned away, throwing the Sunflora's pokeball over his shoulder to Ethan. "Nothing, but I think you should take ownership of that pokemon. I have no use for a grass-type."

"You don't take 'ownership' of pokemon," Ethan reminded him. "You make friends with them."

Recalling his Crobat, Silver stared at his pokeball.

"I often wonder about the moronic things you say," he said quietly before walking off along the river's edge.

"Hey, wait!" Ethan called, recalling the pokemon and running after him.

Something in the night howled, the sound unlike anything they ever heard. It was bestial, but not pokemon.

"I see the second species of monster has been summoned," Silver muttered darkly.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The second monster of the game and a close call for Ethan and Silver.

It was a bit after three in the morning when they encountered the next monster. They had come to rest on a ridge, fatigue and hunger slowing them down. They still hadn't encountered another contestant, but had heard a boy racing nearby them in the woods, cursing loudly before changing directions and disappearing in another direction. Sometimes they still saw something darting quickly through the trees or swooping about the treetops, but had been fairly lucky thus far.

Until now, at least.

Ethan was sitting with his legs hugged to his body, rubbing the cold and ache from his exposed calves. Silver was seated as well, his back straight as he scanned the area below the ridge and the path they'd taken up to the ridge. Crobat was seated in the highest branches of a nearby tree, keeping an extra eye out on the air. It was him who gave them their only warning, screeching just before a large, hairy beast bounded up the path, blocking their only exit.

It snarled at them, turning its head from side to side to get a good look at them. Gore hung from its mouth and the surrounding fur around its muzzle. It snorted and stood on its hind legs, howling at the sky. Silver tried to take advantage of this moment.

"Crobat, use Wing Attack!" He ordered.

The bat-like pokemon complied, sweeping out from the tree and hitting the beast with the edge of its wing. The beast howled again and swatted the pokemon away, sending it crashing to the ground hard. It was dazed for a moment but managed to dodge the beast's foot from crushing it, flying up high.

In the meantime, Ethan quickly fumbled with his pokeballs, realization hitting him before he could summon anyone. His hand suddenly darted out, grabbing Silver's hand in one swift motion.

"We have to jump!" He shouted. "We're going to get maimed up here!"

"Jump where? The ground is a good forty feet below us, with rocks carpeting it. We'll break our legs if not our whole bodies!"

Looking over the edge, Ethan shook his head, turned to see the beast charging at them, and pulled the redhead with him as he jumped.

"No, we won't!" He cried as gravity began to drag them down to the earth far below.

What Silver had failed to notice was a large root sticking out of the side of the cliff some six feet below them. It wasn't large enough to stand on, but it held their weight when they grabbed ahold of it to stop their fall. The beast had blindly followed them over the edge, howling when it found itself in freefall, heels over its head. It lashed out at them as it fell but missed the branch completely as its’ running start had given it an extra distance boost away from the ridge.

They watched it fall to the rocks and ground below, grimacing when it impacted. It was hard to tell if it was dead or just badly wounded but it definitely wasn't going to bother them again for the time being. With effort, the pair carefully made their way back up to the ridge where a relieved Crobat flapped happily around their heads before Silver could recall it back inside its pokeball.

"So vampires and werewolves, huh?" Ethan said. "What's next, ghosts and wicked witches?"

He chuckled half-heartedly, trying to lighten the mood. The same curious stare from earlier made him shut up.

"I can't tell whether you are a genius pretending to be an idiot or just a severely idiotic person with good luck to help balance you out," Silver said.

"I, uh, don't know, dude," Ethan said, scratching his nose. "But I’m pretty sure that's the closest you're going to get to thanking me so, you're welcome."

He smiled as Silver looked away in annoyance. "Presume nothing about me, idiot."

*

"So the current tally is five of fifteen dead in the first 12 hours of the game," Gary announced to the room full of people. "That means Electrical won the first pool on deaths in the first 12 hours. Congratulations guys."

Seven men and three women in the corner of the room whooped and cheered, high-fiving each other. There was some applause from surrounding co-workers and a few others cursing at their losses.

"Unless you bet under five deaths, there's still time to get in bets for how many dead in the first 24 hours," Gary announced. "And a congratulations to those who chose werewolves as the second monster of the game."

There was more cheering from the crowd before it began disbursing. Gary left, going back to the comfort of his monitors to check on new developments. He felt tired and grabbed a coffee from the break room before finding Steve.

"What did I miss?"

Steve fidgeted. "Those boys again. They made a werewolf jump off a cliff. It was actually pretty cool how they did it."

He shut up when the older man shot a glare at him. Turning to the monitors, he located them about a mile from the ridge. Referring to a map to be certain, he nodded.

"The president doesn't like troublemakers, especially ones that go damaging artifacts and killing monsters. I think it's about time we kicked up the difficulty on this kiddie game."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whoops. Should've posted this a LOT sooner, but this has been a shitty year, yeah? Sigh. 
> 
> (And yes, this means I have NOT abandoned this fic.)


End file.
